Face to Face

I had a business leader in my church tell me this week that business performed face to face or with a phone call is a better way to do business than emails. Emails are too easy to ignore. And that is what I have been doing. I email people let them know about my artwork but I never follow up with a phone call. I have been hiding behind the anonymity of email. This fact was shown to me this week. I went to a networking event put on by our chamber of commerce to pick up some graphic design work (those bills must be paid somehow!). As a result of that I picked up a job from it. Networking, meeting people, and getting your face and personality out in front of people is going to be the key to my success I believe.

This and the fact that my art history professor was telling us about Matisse and Picasso and several of the others artists and their life histories. Many of them were successful because they were charismatic and had good marketing skills. I have often been told that I am charismatic and that I could sell ice cubes to an eskimo. Those qualities should be just the ticket. I think it is the next level of self confidence that you must infuse yourself with in order to go talk to people and ask them to buy your work or at least display it! It is one thing to feel like your artwork is good and that people would want to buy it, it is another to believe in your ability to be able to sell it!

I have a new goal to be able to sell one print a week! A contract to a local restaurant would be good. All of my artwork of the Local Buildings would be great hanging in a restaurant. I must get a small portfolio of images that I can take around to shop owners to show them what they could buy.